Freemasonry refers to the principles, institutions, and practices of the fraternal
order of the Free and Accepted Masons. The largest worldwide society, Freemasonry is an
organization of men based on the "fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man,"
using builders' tools as symbols to teach basic moral truths generally accepted by persons
of good will. Their motto is "morality in which all men agree, that is, to be good
men and true." It is religious in that a belief in a Supreme Being and in the
immortality of the soul are the two prime requirements for membership, but it is
nonsectarian in that no religious test is used.** The purpose of
Freemasonry is to enable men to meet in harmony, to promote friendship, and to be
charitable. Its basic ideals are that all persons are the children of one God, that all
persons are related to each other, and that the best way to worship God is to be of
service to people.

Masons have no national headquarters as such, but the largest regional is the Scottish
Rite Southern Jurisdiction (35 Southern states), which is headquartered in Alexandria,
Virginia. U.S. membership is claimed at about three million, with about five million
worldwide. The basic unit of Freemasonry is the lodge, which exists under a charter issued
by a grand lodge exercising administrative powers. The lodges are linked together
informally by a system of mutual recognition between lodges that meet the Masonic
requirements. The lodge confers three degrees: Entered Apprentice, Fellow Craft, and
Master Mason. Additional degrees are conferred by two groups of advanced Freemasonry: the
York Rite, which awards 12 degrees, and the Scottish Rite, which awards 30 higher degrees.
In the United States and Canada, members have formed a large number of groups to enable
them to expand their social and charitable activities. The best known of these groups is
the Shriners, who hold festive parades and support hospitals for crippled and burned
children. (To be a Shriner ["The Order Of the Mystic Shriners"], one must be a
32nd degree Scottish Rite Mason, or its equivalent in the York Rite [Knights Templar]).

Although only men (of at least 21 years of age) can be Masons, related organizations are
available for their relatives -- there is the Order of the Eastern Star for Master Masons
and their wives; the Order of De Molay for boys; and the Order of Job's Daughters and the
Order of Rainbow for young girls. The Masonic Lodge has more than a hundred such fraternal
organizations, including Daughters of the Nile, The Tall Cedars of Lebanon, The Mystic
Order of Veiled Prophets Of The Enchanted Realm, The Knights Of The Red Cross Of
Constantine, and The Blue Lodge.

Though some Masons trace their organization's origin back to the beginning of time (much
of their teaching is tied to Solomon's temple, but they also claim that John the Baptist
and the Apostle John were Masons), modern Masonry dates only to 1717. It was in that year
that four lodges in Great Britain formed the first Grand Lodge of England, which became
the Premier Grand Lodge of the world. Since that time, lodges have spread all over the
world with local grand lodges formed whenever enough lodges exist in an area. Lodges first
appeared in America in Philadelphia (1730) and Boston (1733).

The terminology and symbolism of Masonry seem to come mostly from the actual craft of
stonemasonry during the Middle Ages. The "free" in Masonry probably came from
the "freestones" (stones that could be cut without splitting) that Mason's
worked with. Stonemasons had three classifications for workers practicing their craft:
Apprentice, Fellow Craft, and Master Mason. As mentioned earlier, this is also the
terminology used for the first three degrees in Masonry today.

Many allegories and symbols are used in Masonry. Masonic writers often refer to an ancient
definition of their ancient craft: "Freemasonry is a system of morality, veiled in
allegory, and illustrated by symbols." But Freemason's symbols can be made to mean
almost anything a person chooses to make them. Master Masons take an oath, "Ever to
conceal, never to reveal."# Masonry was originally a means by which
people in the occult could practice their "craft" and still remain respectable
citizens. The official magazine of Masonry in the U.S. is titled New Age .
Some church denominations are also led by avowed Masons (e.g., a 1991 survey by the
Southern Baptist Convention Sunday School Board found that 14% of SBC pastors and 18% of
SBC deacon board chairs are Masons. It is also estimated that SBC members comprise 37% of
total U.S. lodge membership.)

Many other secret societies seem to be patterned after the Masons. L. James Rongstad says
that Freemasonry "is the 'Granddaddy' of all lodges. Its teachings, rituals, customs
and practices, and its secrecy have had an inspirational effect on other similar groups
such as the Moose, Eagles, Elks, and the National Grange." Mormon Temple rites are
also strikingly similar to Masonic Lodge practices (probably because Joseph Smith, the
founder of the Mormon Church, was also a Mason). Most of the rituals of today's college
fraternities are also based more or less directly upon Masonic rituals. The symbols on the
back of the U.S. dollar bill (pyramid, all-seeing eye, the number of feathers on the
eagle's spread wings, the stars above the eagle's head in the shape of the Star of David,
and the mottos e pluribus unum [out of many one] and novus ordo
seclorum [a new order of the ages] also appear to emanate from Freemasonry, which
would not be surprising considering many of America's so-called founding fathers were
themselves Masons -- George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Ethan Allen,
John Hancock, John Paul Jones, Paul Revere, Robert Livingston, and 35 other lesser known
men who were signers of the Declaration of Independence and/or the Constitution. Other
notable men in history who have been Freemasons include Mozart, Henry Ford, Rudyard
Kipling, Gerald Ford, Douglas MacArthur, and Will Rogers. [There were also a number of the
founding fathers who condemned masonry: John Adams, John Quincy Adams, James Madison,
Millard Fillmore, Daniel Webster, and Charles Sumner.]

Since Masons are involved in so many worthy causes, many are unaware that their leaders
say that Freemasonry is actually a religion, not just merely a "fraternal, social,
civic service organization." Joseph Fort Newton (1880-1950), an Episcopal minister
and recognized authority in the Masonic world, said, "Masonry is not a
religion but Religion -- not a church but a worship in which men of all religions may
unite." In fact, Freemasonry even sees itself as superseding and unifying all
religions. (At various times and places Freemasonry has met religious and political
opposition. Religious opponents, especially the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox
churches, have traditionally claimed that Freemasonry is a religion and is a secret
organization. But the papal ban on Roman Catholic membership in Masonic lodges was
rescinded in 1983.)

Henry Wilson Coil is the author of the encyclopedia (Coil's Masonic Encyclopedia
) that many lodges now accept as their authoritative source. He says that if Freemasonry
is not a religion, nothing would have to be added to make it such, and that the religious
service at the funeral of a Mason is evidence enough that Freemasonry is a religion. But
the fact that Freemasonry is religion would not necessarily condemn it, except
that the views of the Masonic religion are in open conflict with Biblical
Christianity, so much so that, in our opinion, a knowledgeable and
committed Mason could not possibly be a true Christian.

Below is detailed what the Masons believe about their source of authority, God, Jesus
Christ, sin, and salvation and future life:

1. Source of Authority. Masons refer to the Bible as the "Volume of
the Sacred Law" (V.S.L.), and it is considered an indispensable part of what is
called "the furniture" in a Masonic Lodge. But the Bible is used only
in a Christian lodge -- the Hebrew Pentateuch is used in a Hebrew lodge, the Koran in a
Mohammedan lodge, the Vedas in a Brahmin lodge, etc. Jim Shaw, a former 33 Mason, says
that Masonry is not based on the Bible (referred to as "The Great Light"), but
on the Kabala (Cabala), a medieval book of mysticism and magic. Masonic authority Henry
Wilson Coil also admits that the Kabala's teachings can be seen in some of the mystical
and philosophical degrees of Masonry. Albert Pike (see next), the man responsible for
virtually rewriting the Scottish Rite degrees into their present form, said that the
Masonic "search after light" leads directly back to the Kabala, the ultimate
source of Masonic beliefs (Morals and Dogma ). [HJB]

One of the greatest authorities on Masonry was Albert Pike (1809-1901), Sovereign
Grand Commander of the Southern Supreme Council of Scottish Right Freemasonry in the USA
and "an honorary member of almost every Supreme Council in the world" (Albert G.
Mackey, 33rd degree, and Charles T. McClenachan, 33rd degree, Encyclopedia of
Freemasonry, The Masonic History Company, 1921, rev ed, 2:564). He authored Morals
and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry for the Supreme Council
of the 33rd Degree, which was published by its authority. This compendium of
official Masonic lore clearly traces Masonry to Hinduism, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism and
other Eastern religions. Albert G. Mackey, co-author of Encyclopedia of Freemasonry
, is also one of Masonry's highest authorities. In his Manual of the Lodge,
he traces Masonic teaching back to "the ancient rites and mysteries practiced in the
very bosom of pagan darkness ..." (Albert G. Mackey, Manual of the Lodge,
Macoy and Sickles, 1802, p. 96).

In the final analysis, Masons do not adjust their beliefs to fit the Bible, the Bible is
adjusted to fit their beliefs. A Mason's loyalty is never to God but to the Lodge. Coil
has concluded that: "The prevailing Masonic opinion is that the Bible is only a symbol
of Divine Will, Law, or Revelation, and not that its contents are
Divine Law, inspired, or revealed. So far, no responsible authority has held that a
Freemason must believe the Bible or any part of it." Masonry's only concern is that
each person must swear by the most holy book he knows, so that he will then keep the oaths
of Freemasonry.#
2. God. Masons require one to believe in God to be a member, but the candidate is
never required to say what god he believes in -- "Masonry ... requires
merely that you believe in some deity, give him what name you will ... any god will do, so
he is your god" (Little Masonic Library, Macoy Publishing, 1977, 4:32).
Masons commonly refer to their deity as the "Great Architect of the Universe"
(G.A.O.T.U.) or the Supreme Being. God is further described as Grand Artificer, Grand
Master of the Grand Lodge Above, Jehovah, Allah, Buddha, Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, or Great
Geometer. (The "G" in the Masonic ring can refer to God; it can also refer to
geometry.) Masons claim that the actual name for God has been lost (cf. John 14:8-9; Philippians
2:9-11; 1 John 5:20) [HJB] .

3. Jesus Christ. The name of Christ is seldom referred to in Masonic
literature, apparently due to Masons not wanting to offend their non-Christian members.
Some Masonic leaders even teach that the Messiah will not be an individual, but "the
perfection of the human race." One such leader thinks that the stories about various
Messiahs have their origin in the most ancient of religious beliefs -- Solar Worship.
Masons, therefore, consider the discussion about the deity of Christ to be an endless,
futile argument. When quoting from the Bible, references to Christ are omitted, and prayer
is never allowed to be offered (in a "well-ordered" lodge) in the name of
Jesus Christ. Masons do not care whether a person privately petitions God or
Jehovah, Allah or Buddha, Mohammed or Jesus, the God of Israel or the "Great First
Cause," but in the Lodge, the only petition allowed is to the "Great Architect
of the Universe." [HJB] Clearly then, Freemasonry does not believe
that Jesus Christ is God, nor that salvation is available only through Him (cf. 1 John
4:3). Freemasonry is a religion without a Savior.

At the heart of Masonry is a secret Luciferian doctrine which a Mason only comes to
understand as he reaches the higher levels. Manly Palmer Hall, one of the greatest
authorities on Masonry, writes, "When the Mason ... has learned the mystery of his
Craft, the seething energies of Lucifer are in his hands. ..." (Manly Palmer Hall, The
Lost Keys of Freemasonry, p. 48). The Apostle John warned that those who deny that
Jesus is the only Christ and that He came once and for all in the flesh have embraced the
spirit of Antichrist (1 Jn 4:1-3). That Jesus was not the Christ, but that He had attained
to the state of "Christ consciousness" available to all mankind, is again part
of Masonry: "Jesus of Nazareth had attained a level of consciousness, of perfection,
that has been called by various names: cosmic consciousness, soul regeneration,
philosophic initiation, spiritual illumination, Brahmic Splendor, Christ-consciousness
(Lynn F. Perkins, The Meaning of Masonry, CSA Press, 1971, 53).

4. Sin. Sin is seldom referred to in Masonic literature. The reality of
sin in the Biblical sense is denied (much like the Christian Scientists); Masons think
that any "shortcomings" can be overcome by greater enlightenment. Yet in
attaining the degree of Master Mason, the symbolism implies that a person is redeemed from
the death of sin and sin's pollution. [HJB]
5. Salvation and Future Life. Masons think that salvation refers to being brought
from the material to the spiritual; i.e., when man returns to "his forgotten inherent
spirituality." Masons believe that the degree of Master Mason is symbolical of old
age, which allows a person to happily reflect on a well-spent life and to
"die in the hope of a glorious immortality." Because they deny the reality of
sin, Masons see no need of salvation in the Biblical sense. They see salvation as a
step-by-step enlightenment, which comes through initiation into the Masonic degrees and
their mysteries. [HJB]

In the 19th degree of Scottish Rite Freemasonry, the initiate is told that attachment to
Masonry's "statutes and rules of the order" will make him "deserving of
entering the celestial Jerusalem [heaven]." In the 28th degree, he is told that
"the true Mason [is one] who raises himself by degrees till he reaches heaven"
and that one of his duties is "To divest [him]self of original sin ..." Masons
clearly teach a salvation by works, or character development, not a salvation by faith
in Christ alone. Even in the 32nd Degree, a Mason never can nor will find the
"light" he is looking for.

** Sectarianism is simply the belief that one's faith has an exclusive
corner on the Truth and that all others are false. In fact, Christianity is deemed by
Freemasonry to be a sect, and Christians who believe in Jesus alone are said
by Masons to be sectarian. Since it is revealed that their Masonic
"God" hates sectarianism, in effect, Freemasonry's elite is admitting that they
hate Jesus Christ. That is why the Masonic institution freely accepts Buddhists, Moslems,
Zoroastrians, Voodooists, and even Satanists into its fraternal chambers. All are welcomed
so long as each agrees that his particular religion is not exclusive. That would be
sectarianism. However, Jesus Christ testified that He alone is the one true God, that He
alone is "The Way, The Truth, and The Life." Therefore, all those who believe in
Him as Lord refuse to give glory to any other deity. Every true Christian, in the
strictest Masonic view, is therefore, necessarily hated and despised as a divisive,
sectarian believer. (Source: 1/95, Flashpoint.)

# Most do not realize the terrible oaths that Masons are required to take
for each advancing degree in this cult. Each Entering Apprentice, for example, is required
to repeat:

"Binding myself under no less a penalty than that of having my throat cut across, my
tongue torn out by its roots, and buried in the rough sand of the sea at low water mark
where the tide ebbs and flows twice in twenty-four hours, should I ever knowingly or
willingly violate my solemn oath and obligation as an Entered Apprentice Mason. So help
me, God."

Each succeeding degree has a similar horrible oath and penalty connected with it. But
Jesus commanded His followers to "not swear at all" (Matthew 5:34; James 5:12).
In addition, Jesus would never sanction these required oaths, for he said: "I have
said nothing in secret" (John 18:20). Masonry claims to have found the truth, and yet
demands that its members swear never to reveal and always to conceal its teachings! How
unlike true Christianity in which believers are commanded to "go into all the world
and preach the good news to all creation" (Mark 16:15). Masonry's methods stand
condemned by the Word of God.